“Honors programs and colleges across the nation, while similar in theory, vary in terms of their entry requirements and the perks they offer. Of course, they do all have one thing in common: Not everyone gets in.” …
http://college.usatoday.com/2015/09/30/honors-programs-elitist-or-not-we-find-out/
Well, yes, they’re elitist; that’s how they work. In order to compete for top students that might go elsewhere, they are providing perks. If it’s a state school, maybe they’re preventing brain drain from their state or perhaps, if OOS students get honors perks like merit scholarships and smaller classes, then they’re potentially attracting hard working, talented students that might stay in state after they graduate and contribute to the community.
The smaller classes and differentiated curriculum seem appropriate. However, I could see how exclusive plush dorms might breed resentment within the student body.
Personally, I think having an entire college be elitist is more detrimental than having a portion of a college be elitist.
I’m in the Honors College at my public University - I don’t think the college itself is “elitist” but rather the students themselves seem to have an inflated sense of ego insofar as they think they’re existing at a higher echelon than the rest of the college community.
When I went to college, there were honors courses that any student could sign up for. Relatively few students actually did sign up for them, since they were harder.
Ha Ha. It figures that certain misdirected schools are going to put the Honors students in the newest, finest dorms. The smartest schools are going to put them in the oldest. smallest, least desirable buildings and then term them classic, warm and comfortable.
I was in an honors program (many MANY years ago), and everyone was in a special dorm. The first few weeks, we sat around feeling superior and talking about our high SAT scores and so on…then we all realized we were idiots. From what I understand, this happens a lot at elite schools, too.
I read an interesting article by an MIT grad who arrived at MIT with a 780 on his math SAT. In his high school, that was more than respectable. Once he got to MIT, it put him in the bottom third – which gave him great perspective. There’s always going to be someone smarter and less smart than you. Colleges are what you make of them.
Penn State’s Honors Dean Christian Brady and the Public University Honors website addressed the issue of elitism by pointing out that Honors Colleges can act as “gateway” for all students that want to extend themselves academically.
http://publicuniversityhonors.com/2015/09/02/the-issue-of-elitism-in-honors-colleges-and-programs/
http://publicuniversityhonors.com/tag/are-honors-programs-elitist/
But it seems like assignment to an honors college at frosh admission means that the gate is closed for others, in contrast to offering honors (or otherwise more in-depth or rigorous) courses that anyone can register for.
Even community college has Honors programs.
I’ll take the ability to abuse all of my AP credit and graduate a year early over having to take all the honors courses and getting the many perks the program does have to offer.
We visited a state flagship last fall. In the info session the AO excited described how the Honors College students had dibs on picking dorms and enrolling for classes. Plus these high academic achieving students got invites to restricted campus events. When we asked the AO about the demographics of the honors college, she just awkwardly hemmed and hawed.
The days of this bastion of academic meritocracy are numbered…
How are honors colleges at public universities any more “elitist” than Ivy League schools with single-digit acceptance percentages?
Seems like the author of the article has an ax to grind - not sure why.
I think it’s difficult to make blanket statements regarding Honors Colleges. My son is looking at 3 different Honors programs, and while they all have certain similarities such as housing, priority registration , additional guidance and tutoring opportunities, but they also have differences as well. All of them also have the opportunity to apply after admission as late as sophomore year. They do not require all Honors classes as some people assume. They do give their students the opportunity to intergrate into the regular student population . I personally think that they provide a great alternative to students who can’t afford expensive privates or Ivies. It seems like a great option for many students , but certainly not for everyone . Does that make them elitist? I don’t know. It’s all about personal perception .
I guess their football programs are also elitist. They only let in talented athletes and then they give them priority registration and special housing. The orchestra is elitist because they only allow in the best musicians. Ridiculous.
I dislike the idea of giving freshmen honors students priority enrollment over non honors upperclassmen, especially if the class is needed for graduation. By the way I also hold that view for athletes.
Elitist for wealth or elitist for academics?
For so many kids like my D - great stats, middle class family, minuscule chance at elite colleges that offer the best financial aid packages, but the net cost of the “next level down” private schools is to expensive, public honors colleges fill a void.
She MAY get a great aid package from a private school, but she has four public colleges with honors we KNOW she can afford. From this perspective, honors colleges level elitism because if you have the academics, your family’s lack of wealth will not keep you from a learning environment that matches your ability.
Agree with @Palm715. My son was in an honors college with unbelievable perks - one on one classes, priority registration, financial support for projects, near tuition-free education. I asked him about how other students felt and if there was any resentment. He replied that actually, most students were completely unaware of the program and it made no difference in personal relationships.
Some schools have more sophisticated enrollment priority. For example, a department can assign priority or reserved spaces in specific courses by class level, declared major (or undeclared), etc., so that those with low priority for the course can only get on the wait list until after all of the students with high priority for the course have had a chance to register. And the school may use a multi-phase registration system, where all students can register for up to about half of a full time course load before any student can register for the rest. Schemes like this can be used to ensure that declared majors get their majors’ junior/senior courses before non-majors fill them up, and undeclared frosh/soph students can find space in frosh/soph courses that they may need for majors of interest (yes, this can mean that frosh/soph students may have priority over junior/senior students for popular introductory level courses, since the junior/senior students do not need such courses for their majors).
If an honors program with enrollment priority existed at such a school, the enrollment priority would only give priority within a given group (by class level, declared major (or undeclared), within a given phase, etc.). Perhaps the students in the honors program could be given priority for honors courses that are associated with the honors program.
For athletes, the schedule constraints of athletic training means that they have more limited time slots to choose from.
To me there’s a big difference between “elitist” and “elite”. Honors programs are by definition elite; the students have demonstrated superior academic performance and (in many cases) are willing to tackle a more challenging curriculum in college. That is elite.
“Elitist” is when the students in that program believe they are entitled (to special treatment, perks, whatever), unwilling to fraternize with the great unwashed masses in the "normal’ program, and feel generally superior. It seems clear that the programs can be elite without being elitist, and I would hope most programs attempt to foster that kind of environment.